Continuous winder



Feb. 22, 1966 H. w. FLETCHER, JR, ETAL 3,235,039

CONTINUOUS WINDER Filed Aug. 27, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet l FINISHINGJAMlEsou D Maw-r512 INVENTORS A TTOE HE Y5.

HA 22v W. FLETCHER. J2.

Feb. 22, 1966 H. w. FLETCHER, JR., ETAL 3,236,039

CONTINUOUS WINDER JA meson D. VA wrsz 1 i HAmzY w FLETcuEzJz 0 INVENTOKSMOTOR ATTOENE YS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ARRY W FLETCHER,J2. AMIESOU D vAw-rezINVENTORS 113m 177'02 NEYS CONTINUOUS WINDER Feb. 22, 1966 H. w.FLETCHER, JR., ETAL Filed Aug. 27, 1962 United States Patent 3,236,039CONTINUOUS WINDER Harry W. Fletcher, Jr., Plainview, N.Y., and JamiesonD. Vawter, Monterey Park, Califl, assignors to Spectrol ElectronicsCorporation, San Gabriel, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug.27, 1962, Ser. No. 219,518 4 Claims. (Cl. 5718) This invention relatesgenerally to the field of coil winding, and more particularly to a newapparatus and method for winding a coil of strand material upon acontinuous mandrel.

In the field of providing devices which include a coil of strandmaterial, such as conductive Wire wound over a mandrel, for example, aresistance elements as for a variable resistor, it is highly desirablefor their economic mass production that the coils be continuously woundover a very long or continuous mandrel. The long or continuous coil isthen parted into the desired individual components. With such a generaltechnique, it is hypothetically possible to manufacture at very highspeed the resistance elements having precisely constant windingparameters over their entire length.

However, to wind a coil continuously over a mandrel requires either thatthe mandrel be rotated while a source of the strand material, such as aspool of resistance wire, is moved along the length of the mandrel in amanner to create and control the winding pitch while maintaining apredetermined tension in the wire, or that the winding mechanism itself,including the spool source, be rotated around the mandrel while one orthe other is translated longitudinally to provide the pitch.

Prior art attempts to achieve such continuous winding have typicallybeen directed toward a lathe type machine which spins the mandrel as aworkpiece and carries a spool of resistance wire on the tool holdercarriage at a fixed longitudinal rate with respect to the angularvelocity of the mandrel thusly to determine the pitch of the coil. Suchtechniques can be made to provide relatively precise components.However, the process cannot be a truly continuous one unless a source ofthe mandrel material is also being spun and means is provided foraxially propelling the mandrel past the spool of resistance wire. As apractical matter, such techniques can provide a length of coil which isno longer than the permissible travel of the tool holder carriage alongthe bed of the machine. A further disadvantage of spinning mandrel typesmachines is that at usefully high speeds of operation there is alwayssome lateral whipping of the spinning elongated mandrel whichdeleteriously varies the tension in the winding wire, and consequentlythe diameter or pitch, or both, of the resultant coil.

Other typical prior art attempts to achieve continuous coil winding havebeen directed toward the development of machines in which the mandrel isrotationally stationary while a winding mechanism carriyng the spool ofresistance wire is rotated thereabout. The mandrel may in such cases betruly continuously fed past the winding mechanism. However, thecentrifugal forces for the revolving winding mechanism, even whendynamically balanced, generally limit the process to a relatively lowspeed.

Typically in such systems, the reservoir spool of resistance wire ismade to have a small diameter so that the system may have a minimumeffective moment of rotational inertia and will require a minimum ofcentripital forces to hold the mechanism together. However, thisnecessitates making the spool longer in order to provide it with apractical capacity for the strand of Patented Feb. 22, 1956 "icematerial. Making the spool longer seriously aggravates another problemin this type of machine: that of removing the strand from the spool athigh speeds. There must effectively be a single output point for thestrand to leave the reservoir assembly. This output point generally musthave a fixed axial relationship with the winding point where the strandis applied to the mandrel. As the strand is pulled from the spool andconveyed to the output point, it is pulled from a wide range ofdirections; that is, from the different ends of the spool. This range ofdirections is measured by the angles subtended at the output point bythe opposite effective ends of the spool.

Since the lineal velocity of the strand between the reservoir spool andthe mandrel is constant, and since the distance the strand must travelto arrive at the output point from the spool, varies due to the axialmotion of the point of unwinding along the length of the spool, itfollows that the angular velocity of the unwinding spool must oscillateas the point of unwinding moves from one end of the spool to the other.It may be considered that the longitudinal motion of the point ofunwinding adds or subtracts a component of velocity to the lineal motionof the strand. The relative magnitude of this component compared to thetotal lineal strand velocity determines the amplitude of oscillation ofthe angular velocity of the unwinding spool and is proportional to themagnitude of the range of directions between the spool and the outputpoint. In other words, the greater the change of direction suifered bythe strand in reaching the output point from various points on thespool, the greater is the required variation in the rotational velocityof the spool.

The variation in angular unwinding velocity of the strand spool resultsin variations in tension of the strand as it is wound upon the mandreland causes fouling in the spool at high speeds. In addition, thevariation in tension and the longitudinal pulling of the strand at thepoint of unwinding, particularly at points axially most remote from theoutput point causes rotational fouling as adjacent loops of the strandare rolled over each other.

If the output point is removed from the vicinity of the spool, the rangeof angle or direction change of the strand is reduced; however, attemptsin the prior art so to remove the output point have resulted inincreased rotational inertia or unbalance or both.

Another attempted solution has been to provide longitudinal oscillationof the spool with respect to the output point, either by moving thespool or by mechanically moving the output point, so that the unwindingpoint remains axially fixed with respect to the output point. However,the resultant mechanisms developed toward that end have beenimpractically bulky and complex and have required sophisticated controlsbecause the frequency of the longitudinal oscillation of the spool mustvary with the varying effective diameter of the spool as well as withthe strand size itself.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide acontinuous coil winding machine and method which are not subject tothese and other disadvantages of the prior art.

It is another object to provide such apparatus in which the mandrel doesnot rotate and may be truly continuous.

It is another object to provide such a coil winding machine in which thestrand always leaves the reservoir spool substantially at right anglesthereto.

It is another object to provide such a machine in which the reservoirunwinding point continually moves back and forth axially without axialmotion of any apparatus.

It is another object to provide such an apparatus in which the outputpoint of the reservoir assembly is radially adjacent to the spool.

It is another object to provide such a coil winding machine which maywind with high precision and repeatability at angular rates of severalthousands of revolutions per minute Without submitting the windingstrand to appreciable tension.

It is another object to provide such a continuous coil winding machinewhich is mechanically rugged and stable.

It is another object to provide such apparatus in which an emptiedreservoir spool may be readily replaced with a full one and the windingoperation continued with only a few minutes down time.

Briefly, these and other objects and advantages are achieved inaccordance with one example of the invention which includes means forpositively driving a continuous mandrel along an axial path from itssource, such as a large spool or an extrusion machine, toward a devicefor parting the continuous coil into separate elements and finishingthem. Disposed concentrically about the axial path of the mandrel is areservoir spool for the resistance wire. Disposed about the spool is awinding cage which supports a plurality of axially disposed wiredirecting cylinders. The cylinders are angularly spaced about the spooland have a length at least equal to the effective length of the spool.

The wire directing cylinders are driven to rotate about also supportedby the winding cage and which is revolved closely about the mandrel.

The angular velocity of the winding cage about the mandrel, the diameterof the mandrel, and the size of the wire determine the lineal velocityof the resistance wire. The wire directing cylinders are driven at atangential velocity equal to, slightly less than, or greater than thelineal velocity of the unwinding wire.

Such a routing of the wire over the wire directing cylinders removes theoutput point from the unwinding point while the driven rollers provide asubstantially constant tension in the wire between the unwinding pointon the spool and the first wire directing cylinder. The tension in thissegment of the wire is suflicient to assure that the wire is alwayssubstantially at right angles to the spool independently of theinstantaneous position of the unwinding point along the length of thespool.

Similarly, the tension in the wire between the winding point near themandrel and the second point is substantially constant, the variation intension being absorbed and averaged in the wire over the driven wiredirecting cylinders and the output point pulley.

The angular velocities of the winding cage and of the wire directingcylinders may be independently determined or may be directly related bya mechanical coupling of their driving means which may additionally becoupled to the mandrel propelling means. The latter relationship may beused to vary the tension of the resistance wire.

Further details of these and other novel features and their principlesof operation, as well as additional objects and advantages will becomeapparent and be best understood from a consideration of the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which arepresented by way of an illustrative example only, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an over-all schematic view of one example of a continuous coilwinding system constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2A is a mechanically simplified, partially cut away, partiallylongitudinally sectioned view of a continuous coil winding systemconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is an enlarged, partially broken away view of a portion of theoverall structure illustrated in FIG. '2A; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 2Ataken along the lines 33 thereof.

'Referring to the particular figures in more detail, it is stressed thatthe details shown are by way of example only and are presented in thecause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readilyunderstood description of the principles of the invention. The detailedshowing is not to be taken as a limitation upon the scope of theinvention which is defined by the appended claims rforming a part ofthis specification. In an addition, it is to be noted that further inthe cause of clarity a number of mechanical details which are consideredto be obvious to the ordinary skilled artisan have been deliberatelydeleted from the drawings. For example, oil seals and details forconstraining axial thrust have been removed from the drawings of thejournals and bearings in order to facilitate a conceptual understandingof the principles of the invention.

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a source 10 of continuous mandrelmaterial which may be metallic or plastic tubing or solid filamenthaving a circular or a rectangular crosssection and supplied on arelatively large capacity spool. Alternatively, the source 10 may be afabrication source, such as an extrusion presss for the mandrelmaterial. In either event, the capacity of the source 10 is suflicientto be, for all practical purposes, encompassed by the term continuous asused here. The continuous mandrel is pulled from the source 10 by alineal drive 12 which may be a positively driven conveyor of the typeutilizing geared rubber belts between which the mandrel is pressed.Although the lineal drive 12 is illustrated as pushing the mandrelthrough the spool 30, it should be understood that it may also pull themandrel or be arranged to both push and pull. Interposed between thelineal drive 12 and the source 10 is a mandrel straightener 14 which maybe a series of rollers which remove bends and relieve stresses in themandrel material as it is pulled or driven.

therethrough.

The lineal velocity imparted to the mandrel by the lineal drive 12 ispositively controlled by a motivation control 16 which also motivatesand controls the angular velocities of the winding cage 18 and the wiredirecting cylinders 20, 22, 24.

In operation, the winding cage 18, carrying with it the wire directingcylinders 20, 22, 24, is rotated about the mandrel causing theresistance wire 26 to be wrapped into a continuous coil 28 with a pitchdetermined by the relationship between the operating velocities of thelineal drive 12 and the winding cage 18; such relationship beingdetermined -by the motivation control 16. The continuous coil 2-8 isthen fed through a finishing machine 29 which, among other functions,coats, bonds, scrapes a side free of insulation when desired, and cutsthe continuous coil into appropriate lengths 31 for individualcomponents 'when desired.

As the winding cage 18 is revolved about the mandrel the resistance wire26 is pulled from the reservoir spool 30 at a lineal wire velocity v Thewire then progresses to the first wire directing cylinder 20 which,because it is rotating with a tangential velocity of the order of and ingeneral at approximately v minimizes tension in the segment of the wirebetween the wire directing cylinder 20 and the spool 30. The magnitudeof this tension is controlled in part, by the loading of a hysteresisclutch 32 and is maintained at a level such that the wire is alwayspulled from the unwinding point 34 on the spool substantially at rightangles to the length of the spool.

The wire 26 then progresses over the other wire directing cylinders 22,24 to the output point pulley 36 which is a fixed point with respect toand supported on the winding cage 18. From the output point 36 the wire26 is conveyed to a second pulley 38 and thence radially inwardly to awinding point 40 associated with the mandrel. The wire is guided at awinding point 49 by wire guides 42 supported on the winding cage 18 andwhich may comprise a pair of smooth hard surfaces of diamond or otherlow friction, wear resistant materials. The mandrel is stabilizedagainst any lateral motion by a stabilizing bushing 44 which may beselected to pass, closely, the desired mandrel diameter.

As described above, the wire velocity is v and is substantially constanteverywhere along the wire path from the unwinding point 34 on the spool30 to the winding point 40 at the mandrel.

Although the angular velocity of the spool 30 is permitted to berelatively constant due to the removal of the output point 36 from theunwinding point 34 by the distance over and between the wire directingcylinders, there remains a slight variation in the rotational velocityof the spool. This variation, it may be noted, is due to the axialmotion of the unwinding point which varies the distance which the wiremust travel in going from the spool 30 to the output point 36 andfurnishes a component of velocity which must be algebraically added tothe tangential velocity of the spool to equal v It is also to be notedthat in accordance with the principles of operation of the systemdisclosed, the unwinding point, and the effective output point as viewedfrom the spool oscillate axially without the axial motion of anyphysical apparatus.

As noted previously, the resistance characteristic along the coil 28 maybe altered from a constantly linear one to any desired variationtherefrom as for the purpose for example, of making wire woundresistance elements for rheostats having an exponentially taperedcharacteristic. The coupling relationship between the lineal device 12and the winding cage motivation controls may be varied as by a cammechanism to provide periodically the desired variation of winding pitchalong the mandrel.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrates the invention in more detail but deletesconventional mechanical details wherever possible in order to facilitatea clear understanding of the principles and operation of the invention.To the same end, the reference numerals which were applied to theelements of the purely schematic FIG. 1 have been used again to denoteactual structure in the subsequent figures.

The path of the continuous mandrel, itself not shown, is seen to enterthe machine at its right hand end, as viewed in the figure, along thecenter of a spool supporting spindle 50. At the opposite end of thespindle 50 the mandrel passes between the mandrel stabilizing bushing44, progresses past the winding point 40, enters an output bore 52 andleaves the machine at its output end 54 at the left hand end of thedrawing. As the mandrel is wound with resistance Wire at the windingpoint 40 and enters the output bore 52 it passes between a set of coilreceiving, stabilizing rollers 56 which provide additional lateralstabilization to the wound coil. Thus the mandrel is stabilized by meansdisposed closely to the winding point from both axial directions.

The winding cage 18 is supported by a base assembly 58 which has a pairof spaced journal portions 60 and 62 upon which the opposite ends 64, 66of the winding cage 18 are rotationally supported through anti-frictionbearing members 68, 69 and 70. As stated previously, the thrustrestraining portions of these bearing members are not shown in thefigures.

Axially spaced within the winding cage 18 is a pair of bulkheads 72, 74;see FIG. 2B. These bulkheads are parallel and are axially spaced by adistance slightly greater than the length over-all of the spool 30. Thebulkhead 72 is centrally relieved about the spool supporting spindle 50.The bulkhead 74 is similarly relieved but is constructed to support theinner end of the spindle 50. In order to remove and replace the spool 30when empty, the spindle 50 is provided with parting means 76 which whenparted permits the removal of the segment 78 of the spindle within thespool 30 to be withdrawn from the assembly to permit longitudinaldisplacement of the segment 78 from the remainder of the spindle 50. Theleft hand end of the spindle segment 78 is relieved to form a smallerdiameter portion 80 which is free to slide within the inner race 82 ofthe bearing member 84 which is restrained against longitudinaldisplacement by its outer race 86 which is secured to the bulkhead 74. Aspring 88 under axial compression continuously urges a spindle segment78 toward the parting means 76 which may be actuated by furthercompressing the spring 88 and axially sliding the reduced diameter endportion 80 of the spindle 50 through the centrally relieved bulkhead 74.When the parting means 76 is thus operated, the spool 30 may be removedfrom its position between the bulkheads 72, 74 and replace the fullreservoir spool. The spool 30 while in place between the bulkheads 72,74 is constrained axially at a desired location by a pair of slopingretaining shoulders 90, 82. The retaining shoulders are continuallypressed against the ends of the spool 30 by virtue of the compression ofthe spring 88 and a slight axial tolerance in the parting means 76. Thusthe spool is axially constrained and is frictionally rotationallycoupled to the spool supporting spindle 50.

The bulkhead 74 is relieved for the purpose of defining a plurality ofbearing housings 94, 96. Within the hearing housing 94 is disposed abearing 98 which supports a journal portion 100 of the wire directingcylinder 20. Similarly, a journal portion 102 of the wire directingcylinder 24 is supported within a bearing 104 within the bearing housing'96. Axially in register with the bearing housing 94 the bulkhead 72 isrelieved to form a bearing housing 186 within which is supported ajournal portion 108 of the wire directing cylinder 20. An appropriateanti-friction bearing 110 is provided within the bearing housing 106 forengagement with the journal portion 108. The bulkhead 72 is similarlyrelieved to rotationally support the journal portion 112 of the wiredirecting cylinder 24.

The ends of each of the wire directing cylinders which project throughthe bulkhead 72 are fitted with a gear 114, 115, 116. A larger gear 118is in this example centrally disposed about the spindle 50 and is fittedwith gear teeth which mesh with the gears 114, 115, 116. The larger gear118 is aflixed to the end of a gear support spindle 120 which iscentrally relieved and fitted with bearings 122, 124 for rotationalsupport of the spindle 120 about the outer journalling surfaces of theinner spindle 50. The gear support spindle 120 is in turn supported by aset of bearings 126, 128 with rotational freedom within the end portion130 of the base assembly 58. The gear support spindle 120 extendseffectively externally of the relieved end portions 130 for purposes ofmechanical coupling thereto for driving the gears 118 and consequentlythe gears 114, 116 on the ends of the wire directing cylinders 20, 24.Similarly, the spool supporting spindle 50 extends externally of theinterior of the gear support spindle 120 for purposes of the mechanicalcoupling thereto of the magnetic loading hysteresis clutch 32.

The source of motivation power and motivation control 16 may, byconventional means, drive a motivating shaft 132. The shaft 132 may bemechanically directly coupled to a gear or geared pulley portion 134 ofthe winding cage 18 by means of a chain or geared belt 136 which ispower engaged by a gear or geared pulley 138 affixed to the shaft 132.The shaft 132 is similarly mechanically coupled to a gear or gearedpulley portion 140 of the exposed end of the gear support spindle 120through an adjustable idling gear arrangement 142. The relativelyeffective diameters of a removable gear 144 on the shaft 132 and theremovable gear 146 on the secondary shaft 148 determines the angularvelocity relationship between the Wire directing cylinders and thewinding cage 18. The indicated adjustment is typically achieved byselecting the removable gears 144, 146 to provide the desired rotationalvelocity relationship between their respective shafts. The idler gearshown permits such adjustment without lateral displacement of the shafts132, 148.

The system and particularly the supporting bearings for the wiredirecting cylinders which rotate at a very high angular velocity are inthis example lubricated by an oil mist method. It is essential toprovide such lubrication without exposing the reservoir spool 30 or themandrel in the region of the winding point 40 to an oil bath. To thisend, a third bulkhead 150 is provided within the winding cage 18 to forman isolated chamber between it and the bulkhead 74 within which themandrel is exposed as it is wound with the resistance wire. The bulkhead150 also defines a chamber 152 at the left hand of the winding cage 18as viewed in the drawing and to which the oil mist is injected throughan input 154. Communication from the oil mist from the chamber 152 tothe bearings 100, 102 in the bearing houses of the bulkhead 74 isprovided by an oil tube 156, 158 respectively. An oil mist output 160may be provided to remove excess condensed oil from the bearings throughthe outer wall of the winding cage 18. Conventional oil seals, notshown, are provided to preclude the oil from entering either of themajor chambers on either side of the bulkhead 74.

In like manner, the bearings 108, 112 as well as the gears 114, 116, 118are lubricated with oil mist supplied through an input 162.

Referring to FIG. 3, the relationship of the central larger gear 18 tothe gears 114 and 116 as well as gear 115 (not shown in FIG. 2) isillustrated. A gear support spindle 120 is shown in section as benigrotationally sup ported by the bearing 124 upon the inner spoolsupporting spindle 50, also shown in section. Access for the spool 30through the otherwise solid wall of the winding cage 18 is provided bythe openings, not shown, in the cylindrical walls of the winding cage18.

In operation, the resistance wire 26 is pulled from the reservoir spool30 causing it to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in thedrawing with respect to the direction of rotation of the winding cage 18which in this example may be considered as also rotating clockwise. Inorder to pull the resistance wire 28 from the spool 30 under tension,the wire directing cylinders 114, 115, 116 are driven in a clockwisesense of rotation by the central gear 118 which is accordingly driven ina counterclockwise direction.

There has thus been disclosed a continuous coil winding machine whichexhibits all of the advantages and achieves all the objects enumeratedabove. It is stressed that the drawings and the discussion are presentedfor the purpose of example only and do not define the limits of theinvention. Many modifications to and changes in the apparatus shown maybe made by skilled artisans without deviating from the scope of theinvention. For example, additional wire directing cylinders may beutilized in order further to remove the output point 36 from theunwinding point 34; and it may prove desirable in some instances to havethe reservoir spool 30 fixed permanently in place within the windingcage with its wire supply replenished when empty by rewinding withoutremoving it from its position on the spindle 50.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous coil winding machine comprising: means for advancing acontinuous core mandrel along a predetermined axis at a predeterminedlongitudinal velocity; a rotatable winding cage disposed substantiallyconcentrically about said axis and having axially spaced end portions;stationary supporting means having centrally relieved, cage journalsdisposed coaxially within and in friction minimizing rotationalrelationship with each of said end portions of said cage; a pair ofaxially spaced bulkheads affixed to the inner periphery of said cage andextending radially inwardly therefrom; a spool supporting hollow shaftdisposed concentrically about said axis and extending from a first oneof said bulkheads through the second one and thence concentricallythrough one of said centrally relieved cage journals; a plurality ofelongated wire driving cylinders disposed parallel to said axis anddisplaced radially approximately equally therefrom and extending betweensaid bulkheads, said first bulkhead being centrally relieved to form abearing housing about said spool supporting shaft, said first and secondbulkheads being relieved to form a plurality of sets of bearing housingsfor said wire driving cylinders which are thereby efiFectivelyjournalled therewithin with rotational freedom with respect to saidcage; first cylinder driving means concentrically affixed to each ofsaid cylinders; a centrally relieved second cylinder driving meansmotivationally coupled to said first driving means of said wire drivingcylinders; an elongated hollow driving shaft affixed in supportingrelationship to said centrally relieved cylinder driving means anddisposed concentrically between said spool supporting shaft and saidcentrally relieved cage journals and extending axially effectivelyexternally thereof; wire directing means affixed to the interior of saidcage and including a first anti-friction wire direction change elementdisposed axially between the ends of said spool for directing wiretherefrom axially toward said first bulkhead after said wire hastraversed said wire driving cylinders; a second antifriction wiredirection change element disposed axially on the opposite side of saidfirst bulkhead for directing said wire radially towards said mandrel;wire guide means afiixed to said cage and interposed radially betweensaid mandrel and said second wire direction changing element; adjustableinter-coupled rotational motivation means coupled to said driving shaftfor said centrally relieved driving means and to said rotatable windingcage whereby both are simultaneously angularly driven and said cage isrotated at an angular velocity having a predetermined instantaneouslyfixed realtionship with respect to the angular veloicty of saidelongated wire driving cylinders.

2. A continuous coil winding machine comprising: means for advancing acontinuous core mandrel along a predetermined axis at a predeterminedlongitudinal velocity; a rotatable winding cage disposed substantiallyconcentrically about said axis and having axially spaced end portions;stationary supporting means having centrally relieved, cage journalsdisposed coaxially within and in friction minimizing rotationalrelationship with each of said end portions of said cage; a pair ofaxially space-d bulkheads affixed to the inner periphery of said cageand extending radially inwardly therefrom; a spool supporting hollowshaft disposed concentrically about said axis and extending from a firstone of said bulkheads through the second one and thence concentricallythrough one of said centrally relieved cage journals; at least threeelongated wire driving cylinders disposed parallel to and withinapproximately a arc about said axis and displaced radially approximatelyequally therefrom and extending between said bulkheads, said firstbulkhead being centrally relieved to form a bearing housing about saidspool supporting shaft, said first and second bulkheads being relievedto form a plurality of sets of bearing housings for said wire drivingcylinders which are thereby effectively journalled therewithin withrotational freedom with respect to said cage; a wire driving cylindergear con centrically affixed to that end portion of each of saidcylinders nearest to said second bulkhead; a centrally relieved drivinggear having gear teeth disposed concentrically about said axis in meshedrelationship with those of said wire driving cylinder gears; anelongated hollow driving shaft aifixed in supporting relationship tosaid centrally relieved driving gear and disposed concentrically betweensaid spool supporting shaft and said centrally relieved cage journalsand extending axially effectively externally thereof; wire directingmeans aifixed to the interior of said cage and including a firstanti-friction wire direction change element disposed axially in betweenthe ends of said spool for directing wire therefrom axially toward saidfirst bulkhead after said wire has traversed said wire drivingcylinders; a second anti-friction wire direction change element disposedaxially on the opposite side of said first bulkhead for directing saidwire radially towards said core mandrel; wire guide means affixed tosaid cage and interposed radially between said mandrel and said secondwire direction changing element; and inter-coupled rotational motivationmeans coupled to said driving shaft for said centrally relieved drivinggear and to said rotatable winding cage whereby both are simultaneouslyangularly driven and said cage is rotated at an angular velocity havinga predetermined instantaneously fixed relationship with respect to theangular velocity of said elongated wire driving cylinders, said angularvelocity of each of said cylinders on its axis being such that its wiredriving tangential velocity is approximately the same as the linealvelocity of said wire.

3. A continuous coil winding machine comprising: means for advancing acontinuous core mandrel along a predetermined axis at a predeterminedlongitudinal velocity; a rotatable Winding cage disposed substantiallyconcentrically about said axis and having axially spaced end portions;stationary supporting means having centrally relieved, cage journalsdisposed coaxially within and in friction minimizing rotationalrelationship with each of said end portions of said cage; first andsecond axially spaced bulkheads affixed to the inner periphery of saidcage and extending radially inwardly therefrom; a spool supportinghollow shaft disposed concentrically about said axis and extending fromsaid first bulkhead through said second bulkhead and thenceconcentrically through one of said centrally relieved cage journals; atleast three elongated wire driving cylinders disposed parallel to andwithin approximately a 180 are about said axis and displaced radiallyapproximately equally therefrom and extending between said bulkheads,said first bulkhead being centrally relieved to form a bearing housingabout said spool supporting shaft, said first and second bulkheads beingrelieved to form a plurality of sets of bearing housings for said wiredriving cylinders which are thereby effectively journalled therewithinwith rotational freedom with respect to said cage; a wire drivingcylinder gear concentrically afiixed to that end portion of each of saidcylinders nearest to said second bulkhead; a centrally relieved drivinggear having gear teeth disposed concentrically about said axis in meshedrelationship with those of said wire driving cylinder gears; anelongated hollow driving shaft afiixed in supporting relationship tosaid centrally relieved driving gear and disposed concentrically betweensaid spool supporting shaft and said centrally relieved cage journalsand extending axially effectively externally thereof; wire directingmeans affixed to the interior Of said cage and including a firstanti-friction wire direction change element disposed axially in betweenthe ends of said spool for directing wire therefrom axially toward saidfirst bulkhead after said wire has traversed said wire drivingcylinders; a second anti-friction wire direction change element disposedaxially on the opposite side of said first bulkhead for directing saidwire radially towards said core mandrel; wire guide means affixed tosaid cage and interposed radially between said mandrel and said secondwire direction changing element; adjustable inter-coupled rotationalmotivation means coupled to said driving shaft for said centrallyrelieved driving gear and to said rotatable winding cage whereby bothare simultaneously angularly driven and said cage is rotated at anangular velocity having a predetermined instantaneously fixedrelationship with respect to the angular velocity of said elongated wiredriving cylinders, said angular velocity of each of said cylinders onits axis being such that its wire driving tangential velocity is atleast equal to the lineal velocity of said wire; and an oil mist inletand outlet network for mist lubrication of regions within said rotatablecage.

4. A continuous coil winding machine comprising:

means for advancing a continuous core mandrel along a predetermined axisat a predetermined longitudinal velocity;

a rotatable winding cage disposed substantially concentrically aboutsaid axis and having axially spaced end portions;

stationary supporting means having cage journals disposed in frictionminimizing rotational relationship with each of said end portions ofsaid cage;

a hollow shaft disposed concentrically about said axis and extendingtherealong through one of said end portions concentrically with one ofsaid cage journals;

a segment of said shaft within said cage being re movable and adapted tosupport a spool for retaining wire,

parting means at one end of said segment for engagement with theremainder of said shaft, and

spring means at the other end of said segment continuously urging saidparting means into engagement with the remainder of said shaft, saidsegment being removable from said cage by dis engagement of said partingmeans from said shaft;

at least three elongated wire driving cylinders disposed parallel tosaid axis and displaced radially approximately equally therefrom, thedistance between at least two immediately adjacent cylinders beinggreater than the diameter of a spool for containing wire;

means carried by said cage for rotatably supporting said cylinderstherewithin with rotational freedom with respect to said cage;

first cylinder driving means concentrically aflixed to each of saidcylinders;

a second driving means coupled to said first driving means of said wiredriving cylinders;

an elongated driving shaft afi'lxed in driving relationship to saidsecond driving means;

wire direction changing means affixed to the interior of said cage andsupported thereby for directing wire, after said wire has traversed saidwire driving cylinders, radially towards said mandrel;

wire guide means affixed to said cage and interposed between saidmandrel and said wire direction changing means; and

inter-coupled rotational motivation means coupled to said driving shaftand to said rotatable winding cage whereby both are simultaneouslyangularly driven and said cage is rotated at an angular velocity havinga predetermined relationship with respect to the angular velocity ofsaid elongated wire driving cylinders.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 970,098 9/1910Noble 5718 1,632,884 6/1927 Carter 571& 2,253,740 8/1941 Van Hook 57182,430,358 11/1947 Merwin et al 57l8 2,519,882 8/1950 Bullard et al310-93 2,527,662 10/1950 Stevens 24253 2,905,401 9/1959 Ewald 24273,034,744 5/1962 Bancroft 242155 M MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

4. A CONTINUOUS COIL WINDING MACHINE COMPRISING: MEANS FOR ADVANCING ACONTINUOUS CORE MANDREL ALONG A PREDETERMINED AXIS AT A PREDETERMINEDLONGITUDINAL VELOCITY; A ROTATABLE WINDING CAGE DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLYCONCENTRICALLY ABOUT SAID AXIS AND HAVING AXIALLY SPACED END PORTIONS;STATIONARY SUPPORTING MEANS HAVING CAGE JOURNALS DISPOSED IN FRICTIONMINIMIZING ROTATIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OF SAID END PORTIONS OFSAID CAGE; A HOLLOW SHAFT DISPOSED CONCENTRICALLY ABOUT SAID AXIS ANDEXTENDING THEREALONG THROUGH ONE OF SAID END PORTIONS CONCENTRICALLYWITH ONE OF SAID CAGE JOURNALS; A SEGMENT OF SAID SHAFT WITHIN SAID CAGEJOURNALS; MOVABLE AND ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A SPOOL FOR RETAINING WIRE,PARTING MEANS AT ONE END OF SAIDSEGMENT FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THEREMAINDER OF SAID SHAFT, AND SPRING MEANS AT THE OTHER END OF SAIDSEGMENT CONTINUOUSLY URGING SAID PARTING MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THEREMAINDER OF SAID SHAFT, SAID SEGMENT BEING REMOVABLE FROM SAID CAGE BYDISENGAGEMENT OF SAID PARTING MEANS FROM SAID SHAFT; AT LEAST THREEELONGATED WIRE DRIVING CYLINDERS DISPOSED PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS ANDDISPLACED RADIALLY APPROXIMATELY EQUALLY THEREFROM, THE DISTANCE BETWEENAT LEAST TWO IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT CYLINDERS BEING GREATER THAN THEDIAMETER OF A SPOOL FOR CONTAINING WIRE; MEANS CARRIED BY SAID CAGE FORROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID CYLINDERS THEREWITHIN WITH ROTATIONAL FREEDOMWITH RESPECT TO SAID CAGE; FIRST CYLINDER DRIVING MEANS CONCENTRICALLYAFFIXED TO EACH OF SAID CYLINDERS; A SECOND DRIVING MEANS COUPLED TOSAID FIRST DRIVING MEANS OF SAID WIRE DRIVING CYLINDERS; AN ELONGATEDDRIVING SHAFT AFFIXED IN DRIVING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID SECOND DRIVINGMEANS; WIRE DIRECTION CHANGING MEANS AFFIXED TO THE INTERIOR OF SAIDCAGE AND SUPPORTED THEREBY FOR DIRECTING WIRE, AFTER SAID WIRE HASTRANSVERSED SAID WIRE DRIVING CYLINDERS, RADIALLY TOWARDS SAID MANDREL;WIRE GUIDE MEANS AFFIXED TO SAID CAGE AND INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAIDMANDREL AND SAID WIRE DIRECTION CHANGING MEANS; AND INTER-COUPLEDROTATIONAL MOTIVATION MEANS COUPLED TO SAID DRIVING SHAFT AND TO SAIDROTATABLE WINDING CAGE WHEREBY BOTH ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY ANGULARLY DRIVENAND SAID CAGE IS ROTATED AT AN ANGULAR VELOCITY HAVING A PREDETERMINERELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO THE ANGULAR VELOCITY OF SAID ELONGATED WIREDRIVING CYLINDERS.